The Secrets Held in Silence
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Rossi/Prentiss TwoShot. When Erin Strauss forces Rossi's hand, what will the fallout be for he and Emily?
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note_**_: We're excited to announce our Round 3 of our Fanfic Challenge on Chit Chat on Author's Corner forum. The **Dealer's Choice August Challenge** is a great way to stretch your writing muscles! Please see the forum for further details. We'd love to have you! And please visit the forum to read our latest interviews with the simply amazing **peagoose 6, Sangreal7, and AliceBB!** And please join our newest discussion threads, **"What's on Your Bookshelf"** where readers tell us about the published books and authors that inspire them, **"The Art of the Well-Crafted** **Author's Note...To Write or Not To Write", **and finally, **"What Fuels Our Drive to Write?"**. Please drop by and check them out. And lastly, please keep our fellow authors, **Angel N Darkness** and **Darcie91 **within your prayers. Both ladies have been in serious accidents and have separate discussion threads where readers and authors alike may leave their best wishes! That's all for this time folks! Thanks to all who have read, reviewed, favorited or alerted our stories. We continue to appreciate each one of you!_

**The Secrets Held in Silence**

**Chapter One**

God, he hated these silences. These heavy, weighted-with-hidden-meanings-and-insinuations insidious pauses. He wished like hell she'd just say something...anything! But he could tell by the look on her face that he'd be waiting awhile.

An extremely long while.

Both of them had known that, eventually, a choice would need to be made. Hiding their developing relationship had been a challenge that they'd both understood would be ultimately futile. And today, eighteen long months later, the thin veil cloaking what, for him, had become the most important relationship of his life, had been ripped off.

Violently and without regard for any of the privacy that had once been afforded them.

He regretted the way it had happened. But, he'd been powerless to control his own overwhelming emotions when they'd finally managed to subdue their latest unsub. The psycho had held her hostage for thirty-six grueling hours. Thirty-six hours filled with dread and doubt, horror and disgust, worry and fury. Each minute of each hour the maniac held her had been like a razor blade digging into his skin.

But, he had a job to do, and all that had mattered was ensuring that she was released safe and sound. He'd remained professional...focused even.

Right up until he'd seen her battered face emerging from the warehouse that had been her metal prison. And the last of his stoicism had shredded into nothingness, his fear and rage giving way to relief…relief that demanded release.

She'd muttered something almost intelligible about all the eyes watching them when he'd crushed her to him, their joined bodies illuminated by the flashing blue and red lights surrounding them. Even that simple caution hadn't been enough to make his overtaxed mind force his gripping hands to release her.

He had her then. The crazed psychotic bastard no longer had her in his clutches.

That's when they'd been seen. Before the dust had settled at the crime scene, a she devil had been in his face, demanding his presence in her office for a meeting that would change the trajectory on both of their lives.

Fucking Erin Strauss. Even Satan took a holiday.

He'd been loath to leave Emily's side. But with a firm shake of her head, the brunette had waved him away, squaring her shoulders as she had hoarsely ordered him to do what had to be done. Avoiding Erin Strauss was tantamount to inviting the Apocalypse… and they'd had enough excitement for the month already. Or that's what she'd told him.

So he'd taken the damn meeting. After minutes upon minutes of reprimand, he'd finally interrupted the Section Chief and told her to find her point...quickly.

And she had. She'd delivered her ultimatum with a cold smile of victory. His job or Emily's… or the dissolution of the most honest relationship he'd ever had with a woman.

He'd offered his resignation on the spot, shocking the woman into what had to be the first moment of complete silence in her despicable life. He already knew what his priorities were. A life without waking up next to Emily...that wasn't a possibility any longer. Oh, he knew he'd never put a woman above his career before. Hell, he'd never put a woman above any selfish need he'd ever had before.

But Emily was different. Emily deserved different.

And damn, did that simple fact bother Strauss. And in retaliation for his seeming magnanimous behavior, she'd refused his damn resignation, stating with her imperial voice that it would have to be a joint decision. Which meant, whether he liked it or no, he had to offer Emily the opportunity to end things between them.

Which had led him here… to his den…and into this fucking heavy silence that threatened to suffocate him.

Watching her impassive face gave him nothing to go on. She kept it carefully blank, her political genes rising to the forefront with alacrity. But the emotion was there in the way her balled fists tightened and released every few seconds. It hovered just below the surface, threatening to overwhelm them both with its force if her tight control was lost.

"Why?" she finally asked faintly, not quite meeting his eyes, her gaze on something to the left of his inflated head.

"Why, what?" Dave asked simply, relieved that she'd finally began speaking. Emily Prentiss completely silent was a dangerous thing, and he wasn't ashamed to admit to the small twinge of fear he always felt when she lapsed into stillness.

Still waters run deep. And dark. And they couldn't afford anymore darkness in their lives at that moment.

"Why would you offer to give up a job you love...a career that you've spent years building with your blood and sweat...for me?" she said woodenly, her lips moving but the words lacking inflection.

Obviously, in spite of his best intentions, the woman he loved hadn't come to understand her worth to him. And that was a situation that he knew he needed to rectify immediately. Evidently months of telling her he loved her hadn't done the trick. But, why would they? Words were cheap.

But actions were priceless.

Reaching for her cool hand where it rested against the arm of the chair she sat in, Dave shook his head. "It's simple really. I'm not me without you, Emily. I'd rather give up an arm than walk away from what we've made here together. I did what I came back to do. I fought my inner demons and I won. The rest...it's just been icing on the cake. But, I don't think that was the reason God sent me careening back into the BAU. I think that's so I could find you."

"She wants to break us up," Emily whispered, the inflection on the first word not lost to either set of ears.

"What she wants and what I allow to happen are two entirely different things, Emily," Dave replied, hardening his tone as he watched her impassive mask slip slightly, her dark eyes filling with emotion for a moment. "The job means more to you than it does to me, Emily. I can write. I can consult."

"No," Emily stated flatly, her eyes hardening.

And with that one small, simple word, David Rossi's well-constructed world imploded.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Author's Note__: We're excited to announce our Round 3 of our Fanfic Challenge on "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum is up to 69 participants. And you still have through today (August 2nd) to sign up if interested. We'd love to have everyone, whether you've authored hundreds of stories or never written a thing! This is for everyone! The Dealer's Choice August Challenge is a great way to stretch your writing muscles! Please see the forum for further details. And if you've never visited the forum, drop by for a visit. Everyone interested in Criminal Minds fanfiction and/or writing is welcome. We'd love to have you! As always, we want to take a moment and say thanks to all who have read, reviewed, favorited or alerted our stories. We continue to appreciate each one of you!_**

**The Secrets Held in Silence**

**Chapter Two**

"No?" Dave repeated incredulously, his dark eyes flashing. The hell! Mind working quickly as he tried to tamp down on his initial anger at her tersely delivered denial, he reminded himself that Prentiss had never responded to threats. But, damn, he tried logic. Obviously, he'd struck out. But they'd be lowering his decaying carcass into a pine box before he'd willingly allow her to give up on them. "What do you mean, 'no', Emily?" Dave questioned, his voice stark in the now dimming room, shadows cast as the sun slowly set outside.

"No," Emily said again, finally meeting his gaze, soft brown eyes colliding with glittering black orbs.

"You're gonna need to give me more than that, Prentiss," Dave ordered roughly, tensing beside her as visions of a life without her presence coloring his world flitted through his mind.

"I don't want you to quit," Emily clarified softly. "The team needs you. Your experience, your intuition...that's an invaluable resource. Look at what happened this year with Hotch, Dave. If the team hadn't had you..."

"They would have had Derek," Rossi interrupted immediately, refusing to allow her to spin the past to meet some convoluted form of logic that only made sense in her mind. "He was the interim Unit Chief, Cara, not me," he said carelessly.

"Maybe on paper," Emily mumbled, her lips twitching. "But, Dave, each of us knew who he came to with questions...when he wasn't certain. You were the role model. You ARE the role model."

"Then they can find a new one. Trust me, Emily, without you in my life...I wouldn't be anyone's ideal anything," Dave snorted derisively, tightening his fingers around her slim hand, rubbing his thumb against her too-cold wrist. "It doesn't mean anything to me at all if I don't have you."

"I never said that you wouldn't have me, Dave," Emily countered softly, turning her hand to lace their fingers together, the connection tightening.

"Em," Rossi said deeply, tilting her chin to stare into her bottomless eyes, eyes he could easily become lost in, "I don't think I like where you're headed."

"Someone has to go, Dave, and since I'm not any more capable of giving you up than you are me, I think that someone should be me," she explained quietly. Seeing his lined face clench, Emily quickly shook her head. "Listen to me, Dave. Hear me out."

"I don't think there's any argument you can voice that's gonna influence what I end up saying, Emily, but give it a shot," Dave replied, his voice even in spite of the inferno threatening to rage inside.

"I love you, David Rossi. YOU. The man. Not the agent. Not the author. THE MAN." Pausing, she turned to face him fully as she continued, adamantly, "And I understand that all the things you do create the person that you are. But for me, it isn't like that. I wanted this job to prove to myself...to my parents...hell, to the world, that I was capable of doing it. That I was tough enough, ambitious enough to succeed. I've done that."

Pausing for a moment, Emily took a deep breath, her fingers clenching tighter around his. "But, I don't want to spend the rest of my life chasing after unsubs. I want a home. And, eventually, a family. With you. If we both remained at the Bureau, somewhere down the line, we'd be sitting here for different reasons anyway. I hate the fact that Strauss put us here...that she forced our hand. But, sooner or later, we'd have still arrived at this same destination."

His lips lifting in a crooked smile as he let his mind attempt to process that stunning revelation, Dave raised one eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really," Emily nodded, her own smile starting to tilt the corners of her mouth. "This might have been your dream, but it isn't mine, Dave. My dreams are much bigger than this. Aside from that, I've received an offer from the State Department. They need an Arabic translator. It appears that chatter has increased over the last few months and they need somebody that's been vetted."

"And this is what you truly want?" Dave asked, cocking his head as he tried to read those famous Prentiss eyes. While he had been well-prepared to sacrifice everything for her happiness, he wasn't sure if he had actually considered what would make her happy. And now that he knew that path, he wanted to give her every opportunity to travel it. For them to travel it. Together.

"I want you," Emily replied solidly, her voice firm and her eyes clear. "Everything else is just stuff, Dave. As long as at the end of the day, we're together, I've got everything I need."

"Me, too," Dave said, swallowing past the emotion clogging his throat. "You know, I've had three wives, countless lovers..."

"Are you trying to endear yourself to me, Rossi," Emily asked dryly, cocking one eyebrow at him, "or see how fast I'll pull my gun?"

"Just listen," Dave muttered, dropping his arm around her shoulders and nestling her against his side as he settled them both deeper into his sofa. "Nobody...ever...has tried to put me ahead of what they wanted. Not once in fifty-four years."

"Then I'd say that you were long past due. And it isn't as though you weren't willing to make the same sacrifice for me, Dave. That means a lot," Emily murmured fitting her head into the crook of his neck, letting out a sigh that had been held too tightly. "But this is best...for all of us."

"You think so?" Dave sighed, toying with a loose strand of her hair, the silky smoothness slipping against his skin.

"I do," Emily replied with a certainty he'd never heard in her voice before. He could hear the future ringing in every syllable, those simple words suddenly filled with more meaning that diatribes and perfect prose combined.

And, like most things in his life, Emily Prentiss knew exactly what she was talking about.

She had chosen him, hadn't she?

_**finis**_


End file.
